information leading to the second advantage, your much better at managing risk if you don't have to bet the whole country up front on one outcome or the other. you manage risk more intelligently that way. that also allows very important politically for adaptation and flexibility. we don't have a national consensus on marriage, and we don't have a national consensus on marijuana. in my view, in fact, we won't on either of the issues have anything like an encompassing consensus any time soon but i think we'll get there. in the meantime, you need a policy. you don't want in concrete a policy in which time quickly underminds because it's not sustainedded by public opinion. delegating the matters to the states is a very good way to keep the policy at a level where it can adapt to changing public opinions as it has been doing on gay marriage. finally, delegating the policy gives you time to build a con consensus. if the supreme court were to come in now and order same-sex marriage, in fact, before it this very term, it would preempt the national debate that i think has to happen about what is